All I want for Christmas…, Mon voeu pour Noël…

Finally, 2018 is closing out and a fresh page is about to be given to us. This is a time, many people regardless of their belief, choose to reflect on what they have just experienced. And boy, what a year it was!

What I choose to remember from this year, is that God is still in control. God is still unpredictable and He is too big to be limited or constrained by our own fears and limitations. This year, many have seen the impossible become possible. Many have witnessed the miraculous power of God and so much more have experienced the depth, the intensity and simply the reality of His unconditional love. This year was a breath of fresh air, a bright light in the midst of all the darkness. It revived my faith, gave me hope and strength for the journey ahead. For that alone, I would like to say Thank You.

As I mentioned earlier, during this time, many reflect on what just happened, but more importantly many anticipate what the coming year will bring. When I asked the Lord, after all we have been through and all the blessings we experienced, what could possibly be next. He said “rest”. See, you may have been blessed with many things, but if you do not have rest. It is the same as having nothing at all. You could be generally healthy, but if you are not at peace within your spirit, you are actually slowly dying from the inside.

Our lives as children of God are not meant to be an unending roller coaster. God wants us to be at “rest”. Even in Physics, there is a quantity called entropy that simply let you know that everything from the smallest particles to objects we can actually touch and see with our eyes, is looking for some kind of “equilibrium state” or “order”. The Bible declares that Jesus came so we may have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10). His plans for us are not plans of evil, but plans to give us a future and a hope ( Jeremiah 29:11). When Jesus was leaving, He said my peace I give unto you ( John 14: 27).

And there are more instances in the Bible telling us God wants to give us “rest”:

“And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:44‭-‬45 ESV

But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 1 Kings 5:4 ESV

Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around(…)
II Samuel 7:1 NKJV”

In 1943, Abraham Marslow came up with a theory of hierarchy of needs for every human being. It can be broken in three major groups: basic needs, psychological needs, and self-fulfilment needs and it’s often represented in a format called the Marslow’s Pyramid of needs. Abraham Marslow believed that every human being at a point in time in their life would graduate through these various levels of needs. Basic needs incorporate your physiological needs ( food, water, etc) and safety needs ( security, safety). These are the bottom needs that everybody has. Then above that, you have Psychological needs which include the sense of belonging, the need to be loved ( intimate relationships, friends) and the esteem needs ( needs for status, prestige, feeling of accomplishment). Finally at the top of the pyramid, you have the self- fulfillment needs or self-actualization ( essentially feeling that you have accomplished your purpose on Earth, doing something that is not just about you anymore and your immediate family, but affects countries, generations).Now, I don’t know if Abraham Marslow was a Christian, but isn’t this what ultimately God wants from his children. In Romans 8:19, the Word of God declares the entire creation is waiting eagerly for the manifestation of the children of God.

I believe with the fulfillment of one’s purpose on Earth also comes the sense of “divine rest”, where the vicissitudes of life don’t move you. You may be diagnosed with a serious illness but your heart is at peace because you know that God is in charge and in due time He will intervene, and even if it means He will take you to Heaven, you are not afraid. The word says in the Book of Psalms: we are like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. He establishes our feet upon the rock to stay. He will not let our feet be moved, He who keeps us neither sleeps nor slumbers.

See, there are some things in life that neither fame nor fortune can buy, and “divine rest” is one of them. So as we are closing this year and going into the next year, I don’t know about you, but personally, all I want for Christmas is “divine rest”, ” rest from every side”, being “happy”, “being fulfilled” no matter how life turns out, knowing how to abide and how to abound like Paul said, choosing to stand firmly in the belief that through it all God has my back.

It is also my prayer for everyone who will read this write-up. Let 2019 not simply bring you good deeds, but may God bless you with “Divine Rest from every side”
Merry Christmas and a very prosperous and fulfilled new year 2019!

Author

Dr. Annick Nago-Adjei is a petroleum engineer by profession. She holds a PhD in Petroleum engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, and has been in academia and in the oil & gas industry for close to 10 years.
Writing has always been a passion of hers and she has decided to put together this space to share her experience, her journey and her lessons learned about her faith in God and life in general. It is her desire to see this blog encourage many in their journey with God and be motivated and inspired to keep moving forward despite the challenges of life.
Dr. Annick Nago-Adjei is originally from the Ivory Coast. She is married to Rev. Emmanuel Adjei, who is currently the lead pastor of Prayer Palace in Accra, Ghana and founder of EA Outreach Ministries, which has impacted more than 28 nations with the JERICHO annual conferences. They are parents to two wonderful daughters.